Illinois 3-sport athlete, who has battled cancer since she was 14, honored with Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award
BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS – Gabby Orlet was in the hospital when she found out she had received one of two 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Awards.
A junior three-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball and soccer) at Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville, Illinois, Orlet has bravely battled cancer since 2021. She was chosen – along with Aidan Goldstein of WISH Academy High School in Los Angeles – from a group of 10 national finalists and hundreds of nominated athletes.
Orlet hadn’t heard of the award, which was created in 2020, before receiving the news of her honor. She said she has since watched a lot of videos on the past winners to learn more about the award and the previous winners’ inspirational stories.
“So that’s been very exciting to see everyone’s story and there are a lot of amazing stories that have come from this and a lot have gotten out because of it,” Orlet said. “So I’m very happy to be a part of this legacy.”
Orlet was recognized before Althoff’s season-opening soccer game against Columbia on Monday night. In honor of her achievements, Jersey Mike’s will donate $2,000 to the Althoff High School basketball program and an additional $2,000 to Orlet.
Gabby Orlet
“It definitely lifted my spirits a lot knowing that my story was going to be out there and I could potentially help a lot of kids in the future,” she said. “So it was definitely very exciting for me.”
Orlet’s recognition has been well received.
She was featured on one St. Louis area television news station on Monday morning and another was there to document her story on Monday night.
Orlet’s story of resilience and strength is a remarkable one and she has a tremendous support group behind her, including her teammates in volleyball, basketball and soccer.
On Monday night, her soccer teammates wore warm-up shirts with Orlet’s name and number (23) on the back.
“Throughout this whole journey the past couple years everyone’s been so extremely helpful and has definitely supported me through every part of my journey, especially with this one,” she said. “We have so many people here tonight supporting me and there for me. It’s definitely something I’m very grateful for.”
Watch Orlet’s extraordinary story:
Gabby Orlet honored with Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award
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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL
